... the Evil Overlords sent down an order that we were no longer allowed to listen to our own music ...

Are you now required to listen to their music? (I imagine the typical Evil Ovelord iPod would have lots of 80s hairbands - especially corporate friendly tunes like Eye of the Tiger - to get you pumped up for productivity. "Productivity ROCKS!" )

Are you now required to listen to their music? (I imagine the typical Evil Ovelord iPod would have lots of 80s hairbands - especially corporate friendly tunes like Eye of the Tiger - to get you pumped up for productivity. "Productivity ROCKS!" )

Thankfully, no. Our evil overlords are anti-music, so they have none of their own. it's a call-center job dealing with irate customers, and having music to listen to in one ear while customers shout obscenities into the other did make the work more pleasant. "I have a special plan for this world" was on all my office playlists.

Both my two daughters (5 and 3 for their defence), just love Shakira "Waka waka". They force me to pump up the volume whenever it plays on the radio. Lately, I've found myself singing that alone in my car, and believe me THAT is very embarassing for a listener of weird obscure music like myself....

I strongly believe that the same science that is used to manipulate the behavior of large groups of people has been, is being, and will continue to be applied in the creation of pop songs. I arrive at this notion because I too have found myself singing along with and outright singing on my own songs that are well beyond any genre I would profess to enjoy, songs that I would never actively seek out.

I suspect they do this to increase sales. People who may not buy a whole album by a particular artist may opt to purchase a single song if it stays stuck in their head long enough. I know it has worked on me once a couple times.

I suspect they do this to increase sales. People who may not buy a whole album by a particular artist may opt to purchase a single song if it stays stuck in their head long enough. I know it has worked on me once a couple times.

And then, with certain songs, they can make them "Album Only" on download services, which requires those of us who want that one song to purchase entire albums of material we don't want and will never listen to.

Noonday Stars: a blog about horror fiction. Recent content includes essay on the new edition of Ligotti's The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein and Other Gothic Tales.

I've not heard it, so I don't know if it would be embarrassing to like this music, but it does capture my interest. Music for children, lyrics and album art by Roland Topor! Unfortunately the link to download a song doesn't work.